Dear Disney,
I wanted to commend your company after it was revealed in the NY Times that you will not continue to do business with vendors that don’t adhere to certain labor standards after a series of terrible events in Bangladesh.
However, I believe there is more that we can do. For the last few years I’ve written this blog on the visual effects industry and the bad labor practices of many vendors you utilize to create many of your blockbuster films. Let me make it clear that while many of these practices will never come close to what happened in Bangladesh, the events there serve as a catalyst to improve conditions for all workers at the vendors and subsidiaries you work with.
Prime Focus is a vendor in India you’ve utilized for doing visual effects. Last year I wrote about an indentured servitude-like program they conduct after I received emails from Indian workers there.
Another vendor you may have yet to work with yet is Pixomondo. I have received many emails from their former workers after they closed various facilities and left them unpaid. The same has occurred at Rhythm & Hues after it filed for bankruptcy and left many unpaid.
In another ironic twist, while this is not related to the latest version of Digital Domain, independent contractors that were paid during bankruptcy now find themselves being sued by creditors in an attempt to get them to return their wages.
Sony Imageworks is a big vendor for many of your films. I get many emails from workers there who tell me that they are given an ultimatum to move to a location that offers your studio a rebate or else they will be laid off.
These practices are not limited to just your vendors. LucasFilm has been a recent huge acquisition for your company. Last year I wrote about Luis Pages, a worker at the Singapore facility that was terminated after taking agreed upon time off to tend to his ill wife who suffered from a high risk pregnancy. It’s also worth mentioning the current trial involving collusion against workers in California between LucasFilm and another subsidiary Pixar. LucasFilm also recently announced it may open in London. Many of the workers in the UK would like to unionize and are not paid overtime for many of the films they work on.
I could go on and on but if you’d like to read more about these practices take a stroll through my blog. Maybe it’s time we solve these problems?
Soldier On.
VFX Soldier 
Given John Carter of Mars, I doubt there is a vendor Disney hasn’t worked with. They were brilliant to work for in London, but my experience does not come from the artist’s side and so my view doesn’t represent theirs. Andrew Stanton, the Disney US and UK contacts, etc. were all super awesome people who made magic happen.
U are just pouring water on a stone !! which is of no use !!! VFX houses and Production Houses are Deaf n Blind..No point of requesting n begging, when LAY OFF’S happens to thr own family members thn they will feel the pain……I messd up my life n career by getting into creative field….Some genie is required to fix all this issues…..
Powerful words vfxinloop…You might have faced lot of hickup’s i guess in VFX….This is the way VFX runs and top people just have fun watching artists struggle.
You have to accept else you to be just a deaf n blind artist.
Nice way to have fun… Very intelligent way
Some people make things happen
Some people watch things happen
Some people say “what the fuck happened?”
Choose your group.
Hey Dave
Yes, it may seem like pouring water on stone, but remember … constant water rushing against stone eventually erodes it.
Hey Dave
I think we just missed the moment
Seems like nothing it s moving on
Except an email from VES saying that i have to pay my 200 for the anual membership, and saying that we have to work together these days….
I will rather give you and Scott those 200…
But i am afraid it s late
The first meeting for Association for Visual Effects Companies (AVEC) is happening today.
Right now actually. 1pm
Leverage is an interesting thing. Even the speaking of it can evoke change and it already has. One of the greatest things about the organization of labor is that it’s done privately. When the numbers are reached for an individual shop is does not necessarily mean it’s the right time to have a vote and move forward. More cards are still coming into IASTE in LA, Canada, and the UK..more than ever in the history of those unions.
There is a plan, and it involves timing and sensitivity to the state of our employers. This is a modem union effort so throw away all your pre conceived antique notions based on the UAW or Cotton Pickers of America.
One of the reasons you make the pay you do and are often treated fairly, is because you work in a highly unionized industry, surrounded by labor laws that were put in place by unions.
As VFX artists we began winning with the first glimmers of solidarity and anything we do from here is only additive. It’s to be expected that outpourings will happen surrounding events like the protests and unpaid artists at R&H, but it’s the silent changes that are also important.
Amazing amounts of attention in the press and in the world surrounding VFX, the town halls, the union efforts, the trade association may very well be the reason we have not seen another pay cut.
A unionized studio buys a non union studio and everyone gets hefty christmas bonuses….You think those events are separate? maybe…
It’s the little things to like the Pizza OT lunch paid for by the Animation Guild for the artists at Rhythm & Hues and the following 5 OT lunches paid for by the studios, an historical fist….just the hint of balance and everyone gets so friendly!
There’s more news to come. This is FAR from over. Stay tuned for the results of a legal battle being fought right now for artists rights, a new union shop being formed by the Animation Guild, The previs artist union push. The next Town Hall…and the next big VFX season about to heat up.
There is something you can do now…
don’t wait for he next big Oscar Fail or heartbreaking R&H type failure…
Sign a Rep Card. http://www.vfxunion.info get answers to your questions.
Amen to that… Things are happening. Lots of rep cards being signed. I can attest to this. Don’t read too much into the dwindling of green avatars. And don’t just sit around reading the blogs.
I think there’s more than enough info out there for any doubters at this point. Time to take the next step, a concrete one.
The wind never blows in just on direction for long.
In 2007 we could not get any major entertainment publications to cover our story of 130 unpaid artists on Journey to the Center of the earth. Not Variety, not The Hollywood Reporter, or The LA or NY times.
One rejection letter read:
“I’ve spoken to the news editors about this and their feeling is that if the story is simply that Meteor folded and people aren’t getting paid, this happens so often in the business (sadly) that it’s not newsworthy enough to get into the paper.”
Now the Animation Guild hosts a pizza OT lunch at Rhythm and it makes the Hollywood Reporter that afternoon.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/animation-guild-picks-up-lunch-425759
@ Dave Rand: “Now the Animation Guild hosts a pizza OT lunch at Rhythm and it makes the Hollywood Reporter that afternoon.”
That’s a pretty good illustration of what I think’s happening.
A whole lot of the *real* solution is not the formation of a trade organization or the WTO banning incentives or what-have-you, but rather the incremental changes in perception, attitude and attention upon which such real solutions are based.
Signs like this are good, even when they feel insignificant.
A drop of water created the grand canyon… so I am pretty sure this message is not falling on the deaf and blind. Things are changing. It takes time as it did with the grand canyon.
Great reply Dave, it is easy to get discouraged when all I hear is artists working for flats at big name companies, people owed large sums of money going back many months… you know I am sure you hear it all too. For those engaged in this keep up the great work!
A drop of water did NOT create the Grand Canyon. Millions and billions of them did. One drop evaporates and does nothing.
@Stop JO and DO…
I never said a single drop of water, I simply said a drop of water, never specified the amount. And one drop of water in theory could make it, 1 drop, evaporate, create yet other drop, do that a few hundred billion times… But I think you are missing the point.
Worldwide : Some think allowing temperatures to soar in production areas while packing artists in like sardines is cost effective somehow. You’ll notice those making this decision work in cool glass boxes and would never consider driving their car in the red.
Are you experiencing this?
Reblogged this on Good Kid. Mad FX and commented:
Great Article.
“Disney will halt production in four other countries: Ecuador, Venezuela, Belarus and Pakistan, by April 2014.”
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/world/asia/bangladesh-building-collapse/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Don’t compare vfx artist’s issues to hundreds of Pakistani women and children dying.
Why do people have to die for bad labor practices to be relevant? I think you are missing the point here. For change to happen everyone needs to say something. Would you rather VFX artist die before this is relevant? I prefer not… Oh, wait , some have already. I know of at least 3 suicides, and 2 deaths from working either long hours, over stressed conditions. One of which I believe was posted on this blog.
Unfair. He’s pointing out that the cost effectiveness to vendors of offshoring can often depend on unethical labour practices in those regions, citing a particularly tragic example to illustrate where that rationale can lead. That’s a valid and important point.
It’s stated that it’s not a direct comparison.
LOL. Someone should make a short film with VFX artists as soldiers. Bandages on the wacom hand. Etc. You’re welcome. Just put me in the credits as Libby V. Lips. Even if it’s just a promo I want credit. It’s only fair. 😉
I’ll say this again – NOTHING will change until every animator and VFX artist chooses a day and a time to set down there mouse and walk out for the day. Studios without artists are useless big empty buildings. All this whining and hand ringing is a waste of energy. Choose a date and a time and then get the word out via social media that a line in the sand has been drawn and action is now to be taken. Imagine ILM without any talent, Imageworks empty, Pixar unpopulated. That would raise an eyebrow in the industry and change would happen – until it does all of this “Im changing my FB profile green” is just about as useful as jacking off. Makes you feel good but accomplishes nothing
BTW – this would still make a huge point if everyone did it at the same time, even for just 10 or 15 minutes. You don’t have to shut down the studios for a whole day to get their attention. But the fact that everyone stepped away from their workstations for just 10 or 15 minutes at all the major VFX houses would be a huge warning shot.Then they’d know that next time, it could be for a day or a week, during a major tentpole delivery.
Agreed – just like when we were in h.s. and at 11:15 everyone dropped their pencils – it got the teacher’s attention. This wont happen though and you know it wont and that’s what the studios count on: sheep. Lots of bleating but they still give up the wool in the end. PIXAR peeps are too well off. Imageworks peeps are too damn scared to act. DWA are numb from lay-offs and worried about their own BWM payments, Bah-bah-bah-blah-blah-blah
To Stop JO and DO Something:
You nailed it. I don’t know if that’s the answer. But it’s certainly the sentiment. People should be this alarmed and this frustrated enough to simply ask for change, even if in constructive ways.
Thanks to your Reply Dave, I’ve been feeling a tad discouraged, but your words have given me some gas to keep up the good spirits, get going, can’t seat around and do nothing.
Great post from Soldier.
Subtle.
Its not addressed to Disney, or the signators of some benevolent trade organization in some future alternate universe.
Its addressed to us, here.
As it should be.
All of us.
In every country.
Now.
I am more than certain many disney people are reading this blog by now. I am not sure that the CEO would be. But I am pretty sure the message is/will be echo’ing in the industry. NPR has been covering parts of this so its now up to “you” and “me” to make change. Sign your card’s as I and several already have!
I wouldn’t be too sure about that. One would for instance also think that leading figures at Pixomondo check out this blog or would at least be aware of the things going on in the VFX industry in general. Yet, when I listened to the livestream of an FMX discussion involving their COO ( http://www.fmx.de/program.html#!/event/1330 ), he seemed to have no clue about what Eric Roth was talking about when he was asked about his stance regarding unions and trade associations.
Which is by the way a discussion I think everyone should be able to see, despite the fact that there of course was a lot of weaseling, as also mentioned here: http://longposts.com/5002130
This blogger unfortunately didn’t mention the woman who got up during the Q&A at the end and threw some mighty critical things at them. I believe that was the only time during that event the audience heavily applauded.
He also didn’t mention how among other things the COO of Pixomondo said “The market will calm down about five years from now”. Again, quite a few tidbits that revealed exactly how out of touch with things at least some of the panelists were.
I also found it noteworthy that the president of Look Effects didn’t object to the idea of unionization and if I remember correctly, I believe he may have even said he would welcome it under certain conditions. I definitely forgot those conditions, unfortunately. To reiterate: I wish they would publish a recording of that discussion.
Water on FROZEN stones fracture mountains….Erosion is magnificent and we need not watch it for we are it. Disney is far from…”HOT”…
Huh?
How the average person sees VFX artistry. I for one would never want to hire Millennials. Very interesting and short video though. He says in the video that mgrs will have to adjust to GenYs innate need to connect to each other while on the job. Sorry hate those terms but very interesting times for next generation of business mgmt.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/business-ethics-stealing-time-65042.html
I don’t think that guy is specifically considering creative industries…I don’t know about you, but most of the artists I know (types which primarily make up the VFX industry), whether millennial or not, function better in an atmosphere that promotes inspiration and creativity, whether that’s through music, perusing internet articles, or comradery. Sounds like once again some people need to be reminded that people are not machines.
To VFX reckoning……
Are we working in the same industry?
In the last 4-5 years……all you see is pipelines designed to remove creativity from the process…..churn out interations…..and work for less…
All you see today is a roomful of artists with HEADPHONES on…not talking to each other….grinding out versions….
I heard a certain VFX company in Santa Monica owned by 2 brothers makes you clock out for bathroom breaks…
I was at Sony and an artist was terminated early from their contract….because he/she asked for more “Creative” and hero assets….
You see older veteran artists let go early from their contracts because they have a higher rate than the kids who they grind out on 12 hour days…..creativity and expirience have nothing to do with this industry anymore…
I saw artists (specifically modelers) given unreasonable deadlines at R&H and Sony….deadlines they possibly couldnt meet…..and they were so scared of loosing their job or it reflecting poorly on their work ethic….that they would not bill for an hour here or work through a lunch break there…….
the more shops that go down…the worse artists are treated.
You can see these shops all over…..young kids working massive OT with high turn around…….paid with Pizza and Pepsi for meal breaks…..
I foresee in the future concepting and the creative stuff handled more and more on the front end and VFX houses turned into “Iteration” factories……churning out the next render or comp…..
and what is worse they dont keep your ass long enough for people to start a union.
Agreed w mafia and disagreed w reckoning. Anyone w half a frontal lobe knows vfx work in not being generated by google/facebook cultures these days. To imply is pure ignorance. These are places of silence where you hear humming of cpu fans. And slave drones scared for their life. Docking themselves. Getting zero OT for genius work. Always feeling guilty for being human. Youre expected to nowadays be an autistic cyborg. And thats supposed to be cool.
Reckoning, you clearly dont get it. Sorry all this shit has me in a stressed foul mood. I dont mean to snap. But i cant control it.
Wtf? I’m not arguing against the plight of VFX. I know all to well what we are going through.
A large portion of VFX artists are Millennials (ages 20-36) Myself included. I only mentioned they work BETTER in a creative atmosphere. How is that “Not getting it”?
It’s good that you’re angry about the situation though, more people need to be angry for effective change.
Until margins improve there will be less millennial “stealing time” as the article posits. I’m not saying I agree with calling it stealing. But lets face it VFX workers are there to get the job done. I know myself I have to shut myself up and put the headphones on to block out too much unproductive socializing when stuff needs to be done.
Not that I don’t agree with you reckoning. I’m just trying to in a sense make reasonable concessions to the man. I steal time and then reimburse it. Sucks but if they would pay overtime, at least that would suffice. Sure, maybe I can clock out. If that’s the arrangement I’ll be asking them to pay me a higher hourly. Simple as that.
This is indeed something I have seen myself. I guess it depends on where you work. Personally, I’ve worked at places where people would regularly surf the web, watch videos on youtube or chat for extensive times. But I don’t know what hours they say they worked at the end of the day. If they subtract all that time they spend on personal things, I don’t see a problem. It IS problematic though if people somehow use that to compensate for low wages and stressful work. At least for me, doing personal things at work is not an acceptable solution to solve that.
And bothers me even more about this is when people who DON’T do such things are seen as “lacking motivation”, just because they leave work earlier as a consequence.
Another thing I object to and that hasn’t come up in this discussion: Since when is socializing in the work place a new thing?!
Having worked in various fields and quite a few companies in the last 15 years (and only in about the last two years, I have worked with a lot of people that seem to fit the “millennial” profile), I have NEVER come across a place where it was considered undesirable to socialize at work. Quite the opposite. If you didn’t socialize, you were considered disruptive at some companies.
I think this is a great opportunity to all of You Artists, to say FUCK OFF! to Your actual employer and start Your own vfx business the way You like and respect the others, it would be fantastic – like fresh air because now You know what is wrong and whats not;
if something is wrong and You recognize it, do it Your own way and don’t repeat mistakes of Your current boss;
because – look if something is doing the way as now(when people are treated as shit) it must go down sooner or later, no matter what kind of biz it is;
and vfx biz is not only big names like Digital Domain and Rhythm and Hues and don’t understand how many of You can cry because of them, I really don’t care(for those companies) – something die and something will born;
if You know what’s going on and how employer treat You and others, how bad treat You, why You support such a bitch? why You so afraid?
I hear this a lot as a solution… The problem is,
(a) it’s always been an option for people to go and do their own thing… many a disgruntled digital artist has gone off and formed a company, determined to ‘do it differently’.
Time and again, and with the best of intentions, they frequently end up falling foul of the peculiar bidding practices and having to pass the costs of staying afloat onto their employees in the form of free OT, non-existent personal lives, burnout etc. etc.
(b)not everyone can be an employer/entrepreneur. The majority will always be employees, or working ‘for’ someone else.
As such the issue minimum standards for workers remains key.. A guild is a mechanism designed to ensure workers aren’t taken advantage of, and I think it’s the best solution we have at the moment.
Jack: Def took the words out of my mouth about the best intentions of those starting their own studio. They end up doing the free OT thing too. I’ve helped talented friends over the years as they formed shops. And some of their little outfits have gone under since then. It’s way to competetive. I’m getting out ASAP before I’d ever consider starting my own VFX focused shop. Maybe conceptual development more than anything else, but starting your own peon VFX outfit won’t save you. Even with someone else’s money…it’s just a poor investment.
This is why I’m not so quick to point the finger. If the margins are really 3-5% at even ILM then I can’t imagine the margins would be higher by paying OT.
Rob: Not sure fully where you stand. Other than you suggesting that artists watching youtube videos when they have tasks to do…At what point is it okay. Multiple 10 minute breaks. 30 minute breaks. How many breaks is subjective.
I do this too, but not as much as other artists. To me I reserve the bulk of that for when there is down time or rendering or something like that. And then I keep an eye for crashing etc. Rather than just running off and ignoring it.
For some artists. This is something they could perhaps work on. It’s hard for me to say what’s fair. I’ve always been a sucker, so I never knew my rights. I’ve had people over the years stealing in front of my face and I didn’t know until it was too late.
Not sure though that having an artist just sitting there watching youtube videos until he feels like getting back to work. Sure, for inspiration. But it pains me to say that much of the situation is not based on watching other videos for direct inspiration. It varies from artist to artist.
“At what point is it okay.”
At the point where they sit at work until 10 p.m. because they make up for the time lost doing that. It’s just like with lunch break. Some take two hours, some take only half an hour. It doesn’t matter, as long as you don’t charge for it and your total work hours on a given day are what they are supposed to.
Personally, I think it’s not a good thing. Because with all that guessing you’re bound to end up screwing yourself or your employer. Especially when people are doing “OT” while they actually spend a lot of their day doing personal things.
That’s why I prefer to simply work at work (aside from brief socializing, obviously. Because team cohesion still is important) and go home when regular working hours are over. But I wouldn’t want to enforce my view on others. If they want to spend 70 hours a week at work, while spending 30 of those hours doing private things. If they only charge 40 – fine with me.
Oh and – I realize that of course usually, the pendulum will swing in favor of the employees if they guess how many hours they actually worked. Which is why I probably also wouldn’t hire millennials.
But on the other hand, wages appear to have decreased quite a bit over the years, so I can’t really blame people who think “If they won’t give me decent pay, I may as well do private things at work”. It’s simply a very complex issue, so I can’t really “stand” anywhere because it depends on how companies treat people and how people behave.
In an ideal world, people would receive decent pay, just work at work and go home on time. But that’s unfortunately not what the VFX world looks like. And if I am asked to put the blame on somebody, I will always put it on the people in power first. It seems to me that all that “stealing time” is merely a reaction to the increasing working hours and mostly decreasing wages over the past years. Would companies treat people decently, I think people would feel bad about screwing their employers in return.
Yes Rob. That’s exactly what I was getting at. Thing is, yes probably more often than people on here care to admit…there are many many artists who milk that. But problem is sometimes there’s down time too. And people need some downtime either way. There should be structured breaks built in. Wonder what they do at NASA with rocket scientists? Like do they clock out for rest room breaks? Or simply work when they want to as long as the end of month performance is met? I’d like to let this one marinate. Please add thoughts to this people…Thanks.
I also agree about downtime. For me that sort of falls under the “socializing” category. One needs to kick back and relax a bit, even at work. As an employer that would fall under “employee motivation” for me and is thus something I would gladly pay for as long as it doesn’t get out of hand.
By the way, I gotta say I’m also not a big fan of that whole “as long as they get the job done” attitude that permeates a lot of our industry. To me, that is pressure that should really be handled by management, not artists. I think it’s a supe’s job to know the capabilities of their artists, to care about the problems they are facing and to calculate the time needed for shots accordingly. So when something doesn’t get done, even though an artist did the best they could, I don’t think they should’ve just worked their ass off until midnight. “As long as they get the job done”.
Nothing makes me want to leave a company faster than supes who clearly don’t give a shit about what I actually do and only look at my output. I am not a machine but a skilled professional. I produce great work and want to be treated with respect in return. If that’s not the case, I’m outta there as soon as I get the chance.
Many of the problems in fx biz are structural that no amount of freedom from “bad bosses” will cure.
[…] Dave Rand comment of hope and encouragement in response to VFX Soldier’s “Dear Disney… (vfxsoldier.wordpress.com) – May 2, 2013 @ 1:16 pm […]
The plight of these poor workers, almost literally slaving away in inhumane conditions and dying for a meager wage… compared to the relative luxury of $50/hour artists with the latest gadgets.
Way to myopically piggyback on a tragedy. Truly sickening. I might get laid off and have to downgrade my iPhone 5 plan and cancel cable. In Bangladesh they might just die in a pile of rubble. This is a new low for this blog.
Chill out. People are trying to eliminate the likelihood of becoming a bangaldeshi.
It’s not an equivalent……..yet. This is an effort in one industry to forestall multinationals and their politicians from turning it into one.
Another cheapshot. You are missing the point entirely…
Oh Soldier is gonna love this
And Go
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4923331/New-Star-Wars-movies-to-be-made-in-the-UK-after-Chancellor-meets-with-franchise-owners-Lucasfilm.html
Ohhohohohoho!
ILM to buy ex Cinesite offices. Filming in London. VFX to be done in London. Go USA!
might not have any direct link with VFX but …
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/13/supreme-court-monsanto-indiana-soybean-seeds
where are the ex cinesite offices? Canary wharf?
people are really happy ( some of them) when jobs switch from one place to another…they don’t understand that, eventually the companies will fly to other locations as soon as the land will be prepared.
Well, enjoy the moment guys…it won’t last forever.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…..
Here’s a thought. You guys (and me too :p) wanna complain about work leaving this country….
Stop hiring illegal day laborers for your houses and get the BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB. NOT THE CHEAPER QUOTE.
Ehh ehhhh? Doesn’t work that way with you huh.
Ohhhh that’s what I thought.
Just saying we have to stop ourselves sometimes and see the bigger problem that starts with us.
But we can’t afford the right contractors to paint our house. So we hire unlicensed contractors off of craigslist. Or we go to walmart to get it cheaper. Get off the high horses folks. Get real.
I’m in line with you in this fight, but the high horse shit needs to be re-evaluated. Thats why I’m here.
Hey look. I’m just venting not blaming. It’s a far more complicated issue than a button push of choosing the best person for the job.
I see a lot of whining on twitter. But yet it’s based on a ton of hypocrisy…I’m damn sure about that.
Maybe what I’m trying to get at in my last rant is that we are pretty fucked until the economy starts flowing better. I don’t buy the gubby numbers and hype over markets. It’s proven that markets have micro crashes when the AP twitter gets hacked. Surely false hype does the opposite and drives the value up into inflated realms.
Chris bremble in BaseFX obviously exploit the PRC artists . BaseFX constantly underbids projects and underpay the artists.
ILM films and Disney films are lures that keep a constant influx of new artists coming in, once the previous batch burnt out. VFX soldier should definately take a look at BaseFX. Just because the company is in China, the employer and his contacts can just overlook and turns a blind eyes to working situation
Marcher, as Founder and CEO of Base, I would strongly disagree with your comments. If you have evidence of artists at Base being treated unfairly, I’m more then open to listen, understand, and investigate how we can be a better company and better service the aspirations of our creative staff.
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